APPPA GRIT 56 - Amazon S3 · 4 Feed From Worms 13 Marketing Minute ... and a lot more folks sat ... we can comfortably get away from that, I guess

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 56

Issue 56

March–

April 2010

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

Producer Profile:

Oaks of Mamre Farm, Hempstead, TexasBy Jody Padgham

Those who have been in pastured poultry for a few years soon find out that our kind of production takes a lot of effort and can be a challenge to do profitably. However, there are producers out there that have found ways to make their systems effi-ciently workable and moderately profitable. David Crank, with his wife Lori and family (two teen aged daughters still at home), has in ten years of pro-duction set up a diverse small farm on 25 Texas acres that offers a fair return for their labors. Keys to success at the Oaks of Mamre Farm are based on an openness to refining systems through trial and error, building on the lessons of other producers, and utilizing a lot of cooperation and diverse ven-ues for marketing.

David was working a corporate job in Houston, Texas for about 20 years when he and his wife got the bug for a rural life, leading to the purchase of 25 acres about 40 miles out of the city and the building of a home by their own labor, without debt. A few years after moving to the country, about 10 years ago, David’s job was eliminated, encouraging him to consider working for himself at home. Being able to start off without debt, and having some sav-ings and a severance package they could rely on for start up expenses, the Cranks were in a good posi-tion and able to build a pastured poultry and live-stock business that started to generate a positive income in about five years.

The primary business at the Oaks of Mamre is the production of Cornish cross broilers. This year the Cranks plan to raise about 7,000 broilers. They also raise Broad Breasted White turkeys for the Thanks-giving and Christmas market (about 200), laying

hens for eggs and produce ducks for both meat and eggs. They also have a home beef herd and goats for milk production. Their systems are all truly free range, with the birds utilizing shelters but only confined at night. Flocks are separated by distance but not restricted by fences, and so there is some intermingling. The chicken pastures are enclosed with mostly welded wire and some field fencing for predator control, and livestock guard dogs (an Anatolian/Pyrenees/Shepherd mix) are also used to protect the birds.

David says that he tried Freedom Ranger broilers a few years ago, and that they did fine, but that the differences he saw in the birds didn’t at the time seem significant enough to justify the changes he’d have to make- higher customer prices and longer grow-out, plus the trouble the red birds would bring to his sorting system. Since birds are all free-ranging, the

In This Issue: 2 Coordinators Corner 3 From the President 3 Board List

Continued on page 5

4 Feed From Worms 13 Marketing Minute 14 GRIT Scratchings

APPPA GRIT!

16 Membership by State 17 APPPA Network

Sarah, David, Lori and Christianna Crank

2 American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 56

APPPA CONTACT INFOCoordinator/GRIT! Editor: Jody Padgham888-662-7772 PO Box 87, Boyd, WI [email protected] www.apppa.org

The APPPA Grit! newsletter is published six times a year and sent to members of APPPA. To join, visit our website or write us. Information provided in this newsletter is believed to be accurate, but readers assume all responsibility for actions based on this information.

APPPA - STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking organization dedicated to encouraging the production, processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture.

APPPA exists to facilitate the free flow of creative ideas. Member producers are encouraged to consider all poultry species and all pasturing models, assuming personal responsibility for adapting ideas and models presented through APPPA.

APPPA passionately embraces humane, people-friendly, environmentally-enhancing, pasture-based production models. While we respect the freedom of others to engage in industrial confinement factory farming, we believe our approach is superior.

APPPA assists both producers and consumers to transact business with as little government intervention as possible. APPPA does not discriminate in membership or programs based on the business size of producer or consumer. Realizing that production models must be profitable to be successful, APPPA's interests include processing, packaging, cooking, marketing, and any other topics related to pastured poultry enterprises.

APPPA's world vision is to see pastured poultry adopted as the model for environmentally, emotionally, and economically sensible poultry production. This vision includes decentralized food systems, farmstead-sized processing, and as much interaction as possible between producer and consumer.

(Adopted by the APPPA Steering Committee, August 27, 1997)

The Coordinator’s Corner I had hoped this issue to bring you the exciting details of the APPPA member survey– thanks to all 115 of you who took the

time to respond! My plea worked, and a lot more folks sat down with pencil and paper to tell us what they are doing. I’ve

entered all the info into a data base, just haven’t had time to analyze it yet. Look for tidbits in upcoming issues!

One of my excuses is that in late February I was playing host to 2700 farmers and supporters at the MOSES Organic Farming Conference for my “real job.” It was great fun, but also a lot of

work. One exciting thing that happened was a casual “poultry networking” meeting at the conference. About 40 people came,

we sat around for an hour and talked about issues that those attending wanted to talk about. It was a great opportunity to

share ideas and meet other folks in the region that are inter-ested in poultry. I’d like to see one of these meetings at every major conference in the country– PASA, SSAWG, Tilth, etc.

Wherever you plan to go, feel free to take the initiative to con-tact the conference organizers and ask if there is meeting space available (be sure to call far in advance), and if you could publi-

cize a poultry meeting. Even if an APPPA board member isn’t available, we’d love to see people get together. At our meeting we asked everyone what topics they wanted to discuss at the

beginning, wrote them down on a flip chart, and then took about 10 minutes to talk as a group about each issue. I learned a

lot, as I always do around my peers. Try it yourself next time!

One other reason I am a bit behind this month is that the AP-PPA board is (finally!) coming here to Wisconsin at the end of

this week for a board retreat. Most of us have never met, so I am not only looking forward to finally meeting this group that communicates regularly by phone and email, but also to doing some organized thinking about APPPA and having fun talking

about poultry. We will report details next issue.

Thanks to member Arellia Reback (who wrote for us last issue) for the suggestion of starting a “Marketing Minute” column. In

this great idea she is challenging everyone to come up with marketing suggestions to share with your fellow members.

Please get those to me in the next month , and ongoing as you think of them. I look forward to reading and

sharing all of your ideas.

I’d also like to welcome the two new APPPA board members, Keith O’Neal from Kansas and Michael Akey from Maryland.

They both seem to be very enthusiastic about participating on the board, both will be traveling for several hours (as will the

entire group) to meet up with us all here in rural north central Wisconsin. We all look forward to working with them.

You will notice that the last pages of this issue are our annual print version of the “APPPA Producer Network.” This is a

VOLUNTARY listing, which you will not be in unless you specifically tell us that you’d like to be. Every year we get com-

plaints from people that thought they should be on the list. We have decided to err on the side of privacy and NOT list

your name unless you tell us to. So, if you aren’t on the list and want to be, send me a note and I’ll be sure to get you on the

web list and in next year’s print edition.

Have a great spring everyone, I think I heard the first robin outside today!

Jody Padgham, APPPA Coordinator


Michael Akey Board member 2010-2012 Green Akeys Family Farm 2301 Cross Section Rd Westminster, MD 21158 (410) 857-0357 [email protected]

Don BrubakerBoard member 2007-2009 The Fertrell CompanyPOB 456, Bainbridge, PA 17502 (717) 426-3594 [email protected]

Greg Gunthorp Board member 2009-2011 Gunthorp Farms 435 N 850 E, La Grange, IN, 46761(260) 367-2708 [email protected]

Scott Jondle (Treasurer)Board member 2007-2010 Abundant Life Farm16055 Gilliam Rd, Dallas, OR 97338(503) 623-6378 [email protected]

Keith O’Neal Board member 2010-2012 Pleasant Prairie Meats 417 Road FF, Satanta, KS 620-276-6197 (620) 276-6197 Meatguy @pleasantprairiemeats.com

Brenda Ostrom Board member 2009-2011Mountain Meadow Farms PO Box 913, Mariposa, CA, 95338(209) 966-8432 [email protected]

Eli Reiff (Acting President)Board member 2010-2012 Poultry Man922 Conley Rd, Mifflinburg, PA 17844(570) 966-0769

Tom Wadson Board member 2009-2011 Wadsons Farm PO Box SN 528, Bermuda, SNBX (441) 238-1862 [email protected]

Jennie Watkins (Secretary) Board member 2009-2011 Ananda Hills Farm 553 Embody Road, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 732-0111 [email protected]

APPPA Board of Directors - Contact Information

From the President Greetings from beautiful Buffalo Valley, PA on this nice spring morning.

Easter is a springtime Christian festival which honors the resurrection of Jesus. Easter comed the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. It is the time when flowers and warm sun and green grasses are beginning to push aside the snow, ice and dreary cold of winter. Even before the holiday had its religious meaning, people greeted spring with cele-brations.

Easter takes its name in English from that of an Anglo-Saxon goddess, Eastre, who repre-sented light or spring!

I spent two days at the PASA conference recently. The first day I helped at an all-day pastured poultry track. The first presenter was Jeff Mattocks from Fertrell speaking on nutrition, then next was Daniel Salatin of Polyface Farm speaking on grow-out. I then spoke on on-farm processing and regula-tions and exemptions. What really got me excited was Frank Reese after lunch, who spoke on true sustainability using his his-torical heritage breeds. They are not white, and they get broody and have babies on

their own. You can use the roosters for meat at about 17-18 weeks of age.

But, I know that the recent survey showed that most of us still work with the Cornish Rock cross. There is more that we need to continue to learn before we can comfortably get away from that, I guess.

Good Spring to all! Acting President, Eli Reiff

PS– I am going to Cornell University ‘Poultry School for Small Farms’ Conference on Saturday March 6th to host an APPPA booth. Maybe I’ll see you there!

The APPPA Board would like to welcome our two new members, Keith O’Neal from Kansas and Michael Akey from Maryland. We are also pleased that Eli Reiff is return-ing for another three year term. The entire board is coming together for a 2 day re-treat at Jody’s farm in Wisconsin on March 18-20, as we go to print. We look forward to meeting as a group, and expect to have some good things to report as the year un-folds.


This article was published in the April/May 2008 issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine.

I am always looking for integrated patterns in which one element in the homestead, food-self-sufficiency enterprise supports and enables an-other; in which problems transform into bene-fits; and in which the homesteader finds unex-pected synergies—that is, biological efficiencies that surpass in sophistication and beauty the crude “efficiencies” of machine and chemical agriculture. There is no better example of inte-grating efficiencies than the vermicomposting bin.

Using earthworms as our al-lies, we can practice responsi-ble management of manures (from either our own livestock or that of neighbors), turning what is otherwise repellent and a potential vector for dis-ease or parasites into “black gold” for garden fertility ap-plications. But we can pluck one more benefit from this magic trick: We can harvest worms from a vermicompost-ing bin as nutrient-dense feed of the highest quality for our flocks.

Vermicomposting in the Greenhouse There are many options for setting up an effec-tive vermicomposting operation. However, worm bins in exposed spaces are apt to stay close enough to freezing in colder climates that the worms’ activities slow down to a minimum in winter. On the other hand, bins in enclosed, heated spaces (such as the basement) are apt to be too limited in size. The great beauty of setting up the operation in a greenhouse—assuming you dig the bins into the earth for maximum protection from temperature ex-tremes (summer or winter)—is that there is never a dormant period in the composting cycle. However hot or cold the ambient temperatures, the worms in their earth-protected bins continue to feed and reproduce.

In the Fall of 2005, I replaced the rotting foun-dation boards of my 20x48-ft greenhouse with 4-inch concrete block. I had been practicing ver-micomposting in a 3x4-ft “trainer wheels” bin for about four years, and saw the greenhouse reno-vation as the ideal opportunity to step up to

more serious work with worms. We dug out a space for vermi-bins, 16 inches deep, 4 feet wide, and 40 feet long, right down the center of the greenhouse. Since I needed that central access anyway, I didn’t lose much growing space to the new bins. (Do note the dimensions if thinking about a similar project: That’s a lot of dirt! Plan ahead for creative uses of all that fill elsewhere on your landscape. And plan on a lot of good whole-some exercise, digging and hauling.)

We lined that space with 4-inch hollow concrete block, two courses deep. Every 8 ft of the 40-ft length, we placed a cross-wall of block. The result was a series of five 4x8-ft bins, 16 inches deep.

We made lids for the bins from ¾-inch plywood on 2x4 framing. The lids are heavy-duty enough for the heaviest loads, and have been a great place to lay out work projects requiring a flat surface. We made each lid a more manageable 4x4 (one sheet of plywood cut in half). The result was two lids over each 4x8 bin, creating two 4x4 ft sec-tions per bin, but with no partition between them.

Remember that concept—it is the key to some of the management practices we’ve come up with. There is no floor in the bin other than packed Vir-ginia clay.

Feed/Bedding In some discussions of vermicomposting you will see a distinction between “bedding” and “feed” for the worms. In my bins there is no such distinction: With one exception (see below), I fill them with “pony poop” exclusively—pure horse manure from a neighbor who breeds and boards horses. Note that qualifier “pure”: If the manure is mixed with hay, straw, or pine shavings, it will heat up, just as in a compost heap—a disaster for the worms. Pure manure will not heat up, or only slightly so. They live in this excellent medium (using it as bedding) while converting it (using it as feed) into castings.

Manure of ruminants—sheep, goats, llamas—all make excellent worm feed. Cow manure should work fine as well, though its higher water content

Poultry Feed From Worm Bins By Harvey Ussery

Continued on page 10

Wormbins in the center of the greenhouse


Dealing with Weather Extremes Although the warmer Texan climate allows for year-round production, it is not without a lot of attention paid to protecting the birds from a wide range of temperatures. In the winter the Cranks may have birds out on pasture when the tempera-ture is in the low 20s, while in the summer it will frequently top 100 degrees. One adaptation helps in both temperature extremes- the car port houses are lined on the top (inside the canvas) with sil-

ver-coated bubble wrap material. This insulation material both keeps the bird-generated heat inside in the winter, and reflects the sun-generated heat to keep things cooler inside in the summer. David notes this insulation as being one of the really significant adaptations that has led to their success.

Winter pens are also protected by tarps wrapped on all sides. Further critical protection is provided by 4 by 8 foot insulated pasture hovers, also made of the reflective insula-tion attached to 3/8” plywood, based on a design by Robert Pla-mondon (www.plamondon.com/b u i l d - c h i c k e n - c o o p s - a n d -brooders.html). The hover is re-markable in that it uses no electric-

ity, but relies on collecting and reflecting the young birds’ body heat to keep the group warm and comfortable. The hover is used when the chicks first come out into the pasture pens at three weeks, and is used in cold weather until the birds are old enough to not be stressed by colder night-time temperatures. David says the use of this pen hover has been a tremendous success- the cold can really slow down growth. He claims that adding the hovers last year allowed the broil-ers to put on an additional pound of growth within the same grow-out period.

Although the temperatures do drop low, temps below freezing are short lived. This allows David to use a watering system made up of a hose con-nected to a 5-glallon bucket with a float valve, which feeds a Plasson bell waterer in the pens. The hoses will ice up and a layer of ice will form in the bucket, but since the bells feed from the bottom of the bucket, there will be an available water re-serve until the ice thaws mid morning.

The summer heat presents different challenges. David notes that the Cranks had “several disas-ters” until they got a hot weather system figured out. “We started with Salatin pens, but they turned into death traps in the heat,” David says. Their orientation to the prevailing breeze is touchy and critical, which David learned the hard way, losing 40 well-grown birds in one pen overnight,

Crank... from page one

Continued

broilers will occasionally intermingle with the hens. He had a few problems with some broilers joining the hens and not being identified as broil-ers for some time. Keeping the two groups apart is a lot easier when there is a color difference. “My customers like the Cornish cross we are rais-ing now, if I find a significant preference for an-other breed, I’ll certainly consider changing,” David says.

A portable 10 ft by 20 ft car-port canopy structure is used to shelter each group of broilers and layers. The shelter has been modified with skids at-tached on the bottom and welded wire and cattle gates around the bottom and ends to allow the birds to be secured inside for predator control. There are large doors on the end to allow human access, and small chicken-sized doors in the big doors that are opened and closed for poultry access. (The big doors are kept closed whenever the cows or goats are feeding in the same pasture.) The broiler pens have been shortened to about a 6 ½ foot center beam height. Out in the pastures with the cattle, they are moved by tractor every morn-ing. They stay about six months in each pasture, and then are rotated into a new area so that the pasture gets a six month rest from poultry each year.

One advantage of their Texas location is the abil-ity for pretty much year-round production. Broil-ers are started in groups of 300 every two weeks. Three groups are out in the field at once, and one or two in the brooder at any one time. A new brooder house built 3-4 years ago has really made a difference in brooder success and effi-ciencies- it has room for six sets of birds, each in their own area. The brooder was built with a sloped concrete floor, with double doors in front big enough for the tractor’s front end loader to come in to deliver or clean out wood shavings, which are used for the bedding. Boards separate the chicks into groups, and Ohio Brooders are used to keep the youngsters warm. (A description and instructions on building the brooder are on Robert Plamondon’s webpage at http://www.plamondon.com/brooder.shtml). Water is piped into the house, and numerous small plastic jar waterers are distributed around each section. David has plans to automate the watering system in the near future.

The field hover conserves the birds’ heat


even though he thought he’d set the pen cor-rectly. “The hardest days are hot, with 100% hu-midity and no wind,” David sighs. “It is espe-cially difficult for six- to eight-week old birds.”

The high height of the canopy allows much improved air circulation. The previously mentioned reflective insulation helps to keep inside temps a little lower than those out-side. In the summer the canvas sides are taken off, leaving the welded wire exposed. The shelters are oriented north-south, so the long sides face east-west, allowing maximum breeze to circulate through the pen. “The late afternoon sun is the worst,” David says, and another way he fights its effect is by draping shade cloth on the west side of the pen. The cloth still allows air circulation, but cuts off the direct sun.

David also utilizes water to help keep the birds cool. He sets up open water pans with small, low pressure hoses and a drip fitting. The pans fill, and then maintain a slow overflow with cool wa-ter. “Being able to stand in that pan of cool water really seems to help to cool the birds,” David notes. He keeps two of these pans running per shelter and also sets up a misting system that the birds can use to cool off.

Hen System Also Free Range The 200 to 300 hens on the farm are also housed in a 10 x 20 foot canopy car port and allowed to range at will. This shelter has not been short-ened, and is at its full height of about ten feet at the center ridge. Metal nest boxes have been hung inside, and 11 foot 2x4s added as roosts. The canvas walls have again been reinforced with welded wire, and doors put on the ends, allowing the hens to be closed in at night for predator con-trol. Eggs are collected from inside, and food and water are also inside (to keep it away from the cows!). The hens are rarely inside during the day, and will range two to three acres, David says. One of the only challenges (besides preda-tors) with their truly free range system is that when the shelters are moved to a new pasture, some birds may wander back to their “old haunts” and roost in trees. If too many choose this option, they have to be tracked down and relocated. In general, the hen house is moved about twice a week to a new ‘footprint.’ “We move the pen when we start to see build up of manure by the roosts,” David says.

Predator pressure, especially from hawks, has caused David to reconsider his young pullet man-agement. “The dogs don’t know to be menacing

to hawks- perhaps they think ‘oh, it’s just another bird’ and so we’ve lost a fair number of young pullets to avian predators. I’m realizing the young birds are more vulner-able than I thought.” To deal with this, they now set up a “half-way” house, where young pullets go once they leave the brooder. This is a smaller pen with a fenced yard, where the pullets are kept

until they are almost mature.

What About Predators? The perimeter fence and closing all the birds up at night has helped a lot with predator issues, as have the livestock dogs. The Cranks have had guardian dogs for several years, cross breeding on the farm. David says that there have been “ups and downs” with the dogs, but that they’ve been generally a great help. Though the dogs are raised out in the pastures with the birds, he cau-tions that puppies need to be especially watched, as they may kill birds accidentally though play. David now finds that he gets the best protection by chaining his dogs near the poultry. “They have a natural tendency to patrol too large an area if they are allowed to range free, the restraint keeps them where we need them to be.” He says it seems that the predators learn to attack when the dogs are out of sight, even if just behind a tree. Bobcats are the one predator that they still haven’t stumped, as the cats will climb or jump the perimeter fence, and are “too sneaky and fast for the dogs.” The dogs are sustained on a diet of a variety of chicken parts, and so are pretty cost-effective to maintain.

Evolution to Organic Feed When the Cranks began their operation ten years ago they bought and fed locally available com-mercial feed without antibiotics. As the operation grew, David bought a small cement mixer and began mixing their own feed. This worked pretty well, until the larger volume as the business grew pushed this to being too much work. At this point they were big enough that the local mill was will-ing to custom grind and mix a recipe that David

Crank... from page 5

Continued on page 7

One of the dogs on patrol

Moving field pens with the tractor


Continued on page 8

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provided, at a minimum of two tons per batch. Unfortunately, there were problems with sourc-ing high enough quality grains to go into the mix, especially with David’s increasing concern over the use of genetically modified grains (GMOs). This concern led him to a source of GMO-free pre mixed feed, which was actually cost effective shipped all the way from a mill in Ohio. This non-GMO feed was more expensive, and not organic, but workable for a time. Unfor-tunately, a winter of bad weather and shipping hold ups (as long as three weeks!) exposed the impracticality of this option. Recently, David has been very pleased to find an organic mill right there in Texas, where they can now buy custom mixed certified organic feed in bulk one-ton bags. Buying in bulk has helped with the af-fordability of the organic feed. David says that he has been getting some requests in the last few years for soy-free poultry, and continues to investigate possible soy-free rations. Some of the issues are: finding an organic soy free ration that broilers truly thrive on, from a reliable feed provider, and at a cost that works. Can enough customers be found who will readily pay the ex-tra cost associated with a soy free diet? If the customers want it and are willing to pay for it, he is willing to try it, he says.

David says that eliminating GMOs and using only organic grains has added to the perceived value of his poultry products with customers. Though these feed changes have added to production costs, by producing products of superior taste and appearance they have helped justify a higher price than most locally available pastured poultry.

Processing Processing at Oaks of Mamre is all on-farm, un-der Texas state rules, with an exemption using an approved facility and procedures. David says that setting up the processing facility took a lot more money than it could have, as “the regula-tions are not there to make you more efficient.” Many of the facility requirements from the regu-lations are to insure food safety in very high vol-ume processing plants, and can be costly. How-ever, many of these facility requirements con-tribute nothing to efficiency and sometimes seem unnecessary for a small operation. So you first have the expense of satisfying the regula-tors, and then the additional expense of making your facility operationally efficient.

The family processes their own birds one or two days per week, and also will process other’s birds, helping to bring in farm cash flow. They can comfortably process up to 150 birds in a day, working from about 9 am till 2 or 3 pm.

Crank, from page 6 They use ice, home-made or store bought at $1.00 for 20 lbs, to chill and then hold the birds over-night. The next day the birds are drained, weighed and put into heat-shrunk bags. “The heat shrinking is more labor and higher cost, but we like the fin-ished appearance and quality- they help us sell into a higher end market,” David explains. After bag-ging, all the birds are frozen in upright freezers, and then moved to chest freezers. Most are sold within a week or two of processing.

With a diversity of markets, an individual bird tracking system is an important key to the farm’s organization and efficiency. Birds are caught pre-processing according to the numbers of sizes needed for each specific market. Once bagged, each bird is weighed and given a unique tracking number. The bird weight is recorded and put on the label, and their ID numbers and weights written down in a spreadsheet. On the night before sale days, a specific number of birds of each size are selected from the freezer, and their ID numbers recorded. As the birds are sold, their IDs are checked off a master list and later entered into the computer record keeping system. This allows for close, and critical, inventory control.


David says that his average customer is looking for a three to three and a half pound chicken. They also get many requests for two to three pounders, and will regularly also sell them as small as 1.6 pounds or as large as five pounds. His price per pound is the same no matter the size of the bird, he feels giving the customer ex-actly what they want is a key service. Over time they have learned the size demographics of each market, and will catch birds for processing from different age groups depending on their predic-tion of size needs. They will always bring more than they expect to sell, since the product is fro-zen, and hope to never sell out before the end of a market. In the last few months the Cranks have experimented with selling chicken parts, with much success. “There is a high demand for indi-vidually packaged chicken parts, and it allows us to still sell imperfect or slightly damaged birds,” David says. “Our demand for parts has continued to grow weekly with no reduction in the demand for our whole birds.”

Unique and Diverse Markets One of the strengths of the Oaks of Mamre Farm is their diverse marketing system. When first starting production, the Cranks took advantage of direct contacts, asking customers to drive out the 40 miles to pick up product on the farm. Over time they moved to a delivery and drop-off sys-tem in Houston. They had been receiving a lot of calls from potential customers wanting just a few birds, it was hard to convince them to drive out to the farm.

The majority of their birds are now sold at two farmers markets in Houston, where the Cranks have developed a strong following and good reputation over the years. Though both markets have one or two other vendors offering pastured poultry, the Cranks are doing very well with an ever growing clientele though they are charging the highest prices. Many market customers come and tell them that they have tried all the other market vendors as well as the products at Whole Foods, and the Oaks of Mamre products are the best they have found. David attributes their market success to: (1) a superior product from superior feed, truly free ranged birds, and supe-rior processing; (2) selling only perfect birds in shrink wrap packaging; (3) and the opportunity for customers to personally meet the farmers, ask questions, see pictures of the farm and even pre-taste the product.

One unique advantage they have at the farmers market is the ability to give out samples of cooked chicken to interested shoppers. Working with the Health Department, they are allowed to pre-cook the chicken at home in olive oil, and then serve samples that are kept hot at the mar-

ket. The Health Department inspects both their cooking set up and the farm market display. David notes that this sampling is another key to their success- if people question the price, a sample is offered and a sale then often made. The Cranks also focus on their market display, and have bro-chures available, nice signage, chickens out on ice to look at, plus farm pictures. They are able to highlight their organic production practices, which is another plus. Eggs are also sold at the market- and always sell out. The blue eggs of the Auraca-nas are very popular. This past year was the first for chicken parts at the market, which has also increased their sales and universal appeal. Both David and Lori attend each market, and though time-intensive, David feels it is good time spent, helping customers make the connection to their family farm. At the market this year whole organi-cally fed pastured chickens (though their feed and practices qualify as “organic”, their farm is not certified) sell for $5.00 per pound and a dozen eggs for $5.00. Duck eggs, also very popular, es-pecially with the International community, sell for $7.00/dozen.

A second market involves a collaboration with an-other farm that offer grass fed beef and pork. The Cranks sell this farm at the same price as some-one pays to pick up at the Oaks of Mamre ($1.00/lb less than the farmers market), and the end cus-tomer pays the regular farm market retail price. The $1.00 difference per pound is the second farm’s “marketing cut.”

A third market involves a neighboring farm that has a vegetable CSA. Once a month that farm hosts a two hour “Market Day” in which they invite other nearby farms to come vend to the CSA cus-tomers. The partner farm takes care of all the marketing and pre-orders, the farm vendors only have an intensive, fruitful two hour marketing day. The Cranks charge the customers about a half way

Crank... from page 7

Continued on page 9

Lots of activity out in the field


price between on-farm and farm market, giving the host farm 15% of the net.

David feels that these collaborations with other farmers are another important key to their suc-cess. Oaks of Mamre doesn’t have enough land to raise commercial quantities of beef or other animals, but their customers love a broad di-versity of grass-raised meats. They have no regular restaurant customers or wholesale mar-kets, although a restaurant does buy turkeys and pre-cook them for holiday sales.

All of their markets are almost year-round, an-other big plus for customer loyalty and farm profitability and cash flow. David notes that chicken sales really drop in December, as peo-ple are preparing for holiday meals involving other meats. The Cranks usually skip one pro-duction batch at this time, allowing them to concentrate on turkey sales.

As for pricing, David warns that learning how to price your product high enough can be one of the hardest challenges for a new producer. Our natural tendencies are to price too low. We must recognize that we are not competing for the WalMart customer, but are instead produc-ing a superior product. To make pastured poul-try work you have to get a good price, collect a good margin. He feels he has succeeded by focusing on the customers that have the ability to pay the price that he needs to be sustain-able, and that he has learned to be comfortable with being the highest price. By offering a dis-count for on-farm pickup and whole-bird sales, there is some flexibility in his price, allowing a more affordable option. Oaks of Mamre is spe-cifically offering a high quality organically fed product that is priced accordingly.

Conclusion and Suggestions for Others David concludes by saying that although they are still looking to expand sales, the upcoming changes as their daughters mature and possibly move on has him concentrating even harder on refining production systems and efficiency. “The APPPA listserve, Pastured Poultry listserve, and other farmer’s ideas are key sources of inspira-tion” he says. He is on a mission this year to find a more efficient way to process ducks (which take three times as long as chickens to pluck. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to get into his duck or turkey production systems.) He says that he is a great recycler of other’s ideas, but it is obvious that he has come up with some pretty good ones of his own, too.

Crank... from page 8 As for suggestions to others, he starts with a caution for those just starting out. “Don’t jump in too fast: start a little at a time, to learn what you like and don’t like about poultry production, and to lower your risks during the early learning curve.” He points out that butchering isn’t for everyone. “Raising poul-try on pasture is a lot of work, and very hands-on,” he cautions. There are lots and lots of things that can go wrong- many ways that chickens can die. You can lose a month of chicken production in one night. You can’t prevent all the bad things that can happen, but it’s a lot easier to learn from $1,000 disasters than $10,000 ones!

David also cautions to not change things too quickly. “Two years ago we tried to double production, and it was a near disaster,” he says. “We didn’t realize that we didn’t have enough land, and our losses and chicken growth rates were terrible.” They were able to dodge complete disaster by working VERY hard and creating two new pastures (at considerable ex-pense), but it still took more than three months to recover. He offers this advice: “Be careful to not grow too quickly, it is difficult to foresee and prepare for everything that can happen.”

Little things can make a big difference: look for ways to become more efficient, as it will make the work more sustainable and enjoyable. The physical as-pects will only get harder as we all age, and the chil-dren move on to other things. David also recom-mends that you concentrate time on experimenting on prices. Be sure that if you are pricing parts you don’t make less than you are for selling a whole chicken. Raise prices if you are selling out, lower them if you are taking too much product home.

David concludes with pure enthusiasm: “There is a great market out there for poultry raised on pas-ture.” He points out that there has been a lot of great national publicity that is strengthening the de-mand and depth of our market – even in the face of the current recession. “We are really in the market segment to be in right now- there are lots of poten-tial customers, and their numbers are growing.”

I have to laugh as David says goodbye: it took till the end of our two hour conversation for him to ad-mit that he had a rather hectic, yet perhaps typical farm day ahead: “The electric system for the brooder house burned out last night, and I have to go fix that- but the hover system worked great, and we don’t seem to see any loss, even though it is winter.” Ah, farming. There is always something to fix, some new challenge. We are lucky to have farm-ers like David Crank who are willing to share their knowledge from years of experience and experimen-tation to lead us to our own successes.


might require some changes in manage-ment. I know of one huge and quite suc-cessful vermicomposting operation based on pig manure, and rabbit manure has also been used, sometimes with the bins directly beneath the rabbit hutches ready to take “incoming.”

It is not impossible to use poul-try manure to feed worms, but it is quite potent—high in nitro-gen, and likely to heat up and generate ammonia. One could make periodic applications that are very thin, or could pre-process poultry manure in a compost heap until it is past the heating phase. Since such pro-cedures make the operation more labor intensive, I stick with manures that are easier to use, reserv-i n g p o u l t r y m a n u r e f o r other fertility-recapture strategies. Other materials can be used for worm bedding and/or feed: shredded newspaper or card-board, weeds or crop residues from the gar-den, kitchen scraps and vegetable trim-mings, etc. The worms process these mate-rials as well, but take much longer to do so. I maintain one bin exclusively for materials of plant origin.

(A technical note: The worms themselves do not actually “eat” the feeds we offer them. Rather, a whole host of bacterial species “eat” the organic feeds in the bins, and the worms feed on the bacteria.)

Worm Species to Use in the Bins If you’ve ever dug into the center of an aged heap of manure, you saw “red wrigglers” or “manure worms” at work. It is this type of worm—not the soil burrowing “night crawler” earthworm types you find when digging a garden bed, or in a bait shop—that is used in the rich, dense feeding medium typical of the vermicomposting bins. (Eisenia foetida is the species normally used.) This type of earthworm will not burrow down into the compacted soil under the bin, nor will it crawl out the top of the bin. Conditions in either direction are not as compatible, as inviting, as the rich feeding medium we es-tablish in the bin.

Setting Up the Bins The vermicomposting process starts with hauling in pickup loads of horse manure and

Wormbins ... from page 4 loading all five bins. Adjust the moisture content if necessary, using a wand on a garden hose, aiming for a medium that is neither uncomfortably dry for an animal whose entire body is covered with a wet skin; nor sopping wet, a condition that would drown the worms. Before watering, check the deeper levels of the bin, not just the surface. Over-watering at the surface can cause a hidden accumulation of excess

water deeper down, especially if drainage from the bin is poor.

After waiting a couple of days to ensure there will be no significant heating, I inoculate the bin with worms. You can easily find them for purchase online. They are ex-pensive, but you only have to buy them once—after that, they will “be fruitful and multiply,” and you should then have enough for all future needs. Alternatively, you could visit an aged manure heap

and dig out a “seeding” of manure worms for your bins.

In either case, it will take some time before your bins are fully populated. Be patient. If you check from time to time, you will find more


“Red Wigglers”:Eisenia foetida


and more red wrigglers—and their small round yellowish egg capsules as well—signs that indeed they are achieving their and your mutual objective. I seeded my five 4x8 bins (a huge amount of material) with worms from my small “trainer wheels” bin, and it was about a year be-fore I could start harvesting surplus worms.

Managing the BinsAt the beginning, the horse manure is in the form of the “horse apples” or “horse muffins” so familiar to anyone attending a Fourth of July parade. At the end of proc-essing, the horse manure has been con-verted entirely to worm manure, or cast-ings—a fine-grained, moist, black residue that is one of the best of all natural fertilizers (not only for its mineral components, but because it carries a huge load of beneficial microbes added in the gut of the earthworm). Unfortunately, a bin that has gone to pure castings has no living worms—no animal can live in its own wastes.

Thus the trick is to find a way to furnish an ever-renewed source of food for the worms, while separating them from the castings. There are numerous techniques that have been used for doing so, some of them quite tedious and labor-intensive. I’ll describe the alternative which works well for my needs.

First of all, as the worms work the manure, they reduce its volume. At some point it is possible to shovel all the bedding from one half of the bin on top of the material in the other half—and still have it fit under the bin lid.

Remember how I said that having two lids allows us to manage a single 4x8 bin in effect as two 4x4 sections (but with no barrier between them)? Now we begin to see what an advantage that is: We fill the emptied half with fresh pony poop. At this point it no longer matters if we have some initial heating in the new material—the worms are safe in the older, established material, and can simply wait out the heating cycle before starting to “sip” at the edges of the new bedding. As they exhaust the old material, they migrate into the fresh material, leaving behind pure castings for our use, but maintaining a thriving population in the fresh half. We have now established a sort of seesaw for managing a perpetually renewing ver-micomposting cycle.

Harvesting for Feeding There is a final refinement to the cycling of ma-

nure used in this system, however, and that is the point of this article: We can harvest the worms to feed chickens (and ducks, guineas, tur-keys—all domestic fowl ex-cept the vegetarian geese, who are appalled). To do so, we intervene in the cycle at what I call the “halfway” point. Remember the begin-ning of the cycle (discrete, clumpy “horse apples”) and its ending (even textured, fine-grained castings). Mid-way along the spectrum is the halfway point: The worms have pulled apart the manure clumps into an even mass

with plenty of fiber still in evidence. That is, the material has been broken down, and infused with castings, sufficiently to use as a potent fertilizer, but still contains plenty of worms and worm eggs. At this point, we can intervene with shovel and bucket—scoop up the fibrous bedding and feed it to the flock. In the winter, I release my birds onto a heavily-mulched “winter feeding yard.” Since the mulch is over one of my gardens, I simply dump the bin material with its load of worms onto the mulch (a different spot each day, in order eventually to benefit the entire area).

The half-empty bin ready

for new manure

Wormbins ... from page 10



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The chickens scratch the processed manure into the mulch while dining on the worms.

Another option in the winter is to dump the bin contents onto the deep litter in my greenhouse poultry pens or in the main poultry house. Again, the birds incorporate it into the deep litter. Periodically, I remove the litter—now some-thing like a mix be-tween a finished com-post and a mulch—and lay it down in a heavy layer in my “fertility patches” of comfrey or stinging nettle, both capable of utilizing all the fertility I can throw at them. Later in the gar-dening season, I could use it instead to mulch heavy feeders like corn or winter squash.

In the summer, the “halfway” bedding can feed chickens on the pasture. Sometimes I reserve the worms harvested from the worm bins to help meet the higher protein needs of the growing birds, using a shelter set up as a sort of “creep feeder” to serve the young birds while excluding the adults. Of course, I will keep the shelter mov-ing over the pasture in order to even out the fer-

tility application of the worm bedding. I have a couple of times seen caveats that worms raised in animal manures can pose a

threat of disease if fed to chickens. I have been un-able to find any substan-tive discussion of this sub-ject. For this reason—and because I know of so many real-world applica-tions in which chickens have been successfully fed or released onto manure-fed earthworms—I am not deterred by theoretical possibilities. Vermicom-posting is proving to be a source of high quality feed for my flock, and I won’t be concerned about poten-tial problems until and if they manifest.

Harvey Ussery farms and writes from his home-stead in Hume, VA. His website is www.themodernhomestead.us and he is writing a book, The Modern Homestead Poultry Flock, to be published next year by Chelsea Green. He invites producers to join him in discovering ways to produce more of the flock’s feed from on-farm resources . Contact h im at [email protected] (or at P O Box 67, Hume VA 22639 or 540-364-1877) if you’d like to participate. We hope that he will keep us informed of what he learns.

Feeding on the litter in the winter feeding yard

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Member Ariella Reback noted that a lot of members re-quested more information about marketing. She recom-mended that we start up a column called the “Marketing Minute” in which we publish quick and targeted ideas on how to have a stronger marketing impact. Her first contri-bution is below. Do you have some quick marketing tips? Please send them to APPPA at [email protected], or PO Box 87, Boyd, WI 54726 and we will print them for all! Thanks to Ariella for the idea.

Communicate effectively: Help customers know how to cut and cook pastured poultry.

Home cooks today are so used to purchasing a package of chicken parts – whatever their recipe requires. Conventionally produced chicken is uni-form and will cook using any type of recipe. In contrast, pastured poultry is often sold whole and cooks much faster than conventional poultry.

Help customers learn how to cut the poultry to suit their needs. Try handing out a flyer with instruc-tions on how to cut up a whole bird or refer cus-tomers to websites demonstrating the technique.

Here is one example: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Cut-Up-a-Whole-Chicken-172966542.

Provide cooking tips and hints. Because of its lower fat content, pastured poultry typically cooks 30% faster than conventional poultry. Cooks may want to roast the chicken or turkey at a lower temperature – try 325°. It is impor-tant to convey these tips as a customer who ends up with a dry chicken will probably not purchase again. Try handing out a flyer with cooking tips.

Provide recipes. Customers want to know how you – the farmer and processor – cook the pas-tured poultry. By providing a simple and deli-cious recipe you will gain a happy customer.

This Marketing Minute is provided by Ariella Reback, owner of Green Pastures Poultry. Green Pastures Poultry produces kosher, pastured chicken, duck and turkey near Cleveland, Ohio. Contact Ariella at [email protected].

Marketing Minute


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Interesting tidbits from the Pro-plus listserve and beyond:

New Pasture Seeding From Karlen Gunderson We needed to rejuvenate our land before pasturing poul-try on it, too. We did lots and lots of research before seed-ing. Since each plant offers different nutritional profiles, our goal was to provide a pasture of mixed grasses, clovers, wild-flowers, grains, and even weeds (they LOVE chickweed!),--anything and everything that we could find that we knew would work in our climate and be palatable and healthful for our flock. That way, each hen would be able choose from this “smorgasbord” exactly what she needs at any particular time. We’ve only had to seed the one time in the three years we’ve been raising pastured poultry. I do think we may add a little seed again this spring, just to replenish those varieties which have been crowded out or over-grazed by the birds. But that’s just us—we like our flock to have a wide variety of foods to choose from. We also like that the variety attracts a wide variety of insects and other chicken favorites. Our reward has been very low feed costs (during the growing season), an ex-traordinarily healthy, gorgeous looking flock, beautiful eggs, and a virtually disease-free flock for these past three years. We think it’s a great validation of the “quality in, quality out” mind-set. We live in a very different climate than yours, so I would recommend you check with your local county extension agent, and possibly your local feed and seed outlet, to be sure the seeds you’re considering will work in your area. But here’s a sample of what we used: 1. Clovers—We used a variety of clovers. I’d recommend in-cluding at least 20% Ladino clover. This variety of Dutch-type clover is especially nutritious (and palatable) for chickens. It’s a super-favorite of our chickens and would probably grow well in your area. Clover is highly nutritious for the chickens and their eggs and makes the yolks a super deep, rich orange. 2. Grasses—We used a variety of fescues, rye grasses, wheat grasses, bluegrasses, etc. Chickens prefer “tender” grasses to the tougher varieties. 3. Buckwheat—We used a variety of buckwheat seeds. 4. Legumes—We used a variety of different alfalfas (a favorite of our chickens), cow peas, etc. 5. Others—We used plantain, small Delar burnett, chicory, birdsfood trefoil, common flax, native wildflower mixes, native grasses, etc. We just mowed the pasture relatively short and (fairly lightly) spread the seed over it early in the spring time. It worked great for us. Again, you may need to modify for your climate.

Sources of Information on Poultry Health: From Jeff Mattocks, The Fertrell Company: I have two resources that I use to help me identify the illnesses. * MAS AGVET Flock supervisor’s manual, put out by Merck & Co., Rahway, New Jersey, the only identifying numbers are : PTP-1-11107-FBK. This one is easiest to read and find stuff quickly. * Poultry Metabolic Disorders and Mycotoxins, by S. Leeson, G. Diaz, and J.D. Summers, published by University Books, P.O. Box 1326, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1H 6N8 ISBN# 0-9695600-1-1. This is a university course book and is not as easy to sort through.

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Another health resource: *Remedies for Health Problems for the Organic Layer Flock By K a r m a G l o s s h t t p : / / w w w . k i n g b i r d f a r m . c o m /Layerhealthcompendium.pdf Also available on the APPPA webpage at www.apppa.org/producer_resources.htm

Bird Size and Efficiency: Question: Is there some advantage to letting the birds grow above say, 3.5 pounds? Tyson, Perdue and other big manufac-turers of poultry grow out their birds to 3 to 3.5 pounds for a reason. That’s a good sized bird for a family to eat in one sit-ting. Is it worth the extra weeks, and feed, and effort to get our birds to 5 or 6 pounds dressed weight? Why not process them younger, get more tender birds, spend less on feed, less time on the farm, etc? Why are we growing our birds out so big? I know there is some demand for larger roasters, but really, is the added size that much of a marketing advantage? If it takes an extra 3 or 4 weeks to add 2 pounds on to the birds, its probably best to process at 3-4 pounds than run them to 6 pounds or so. That’s a lot of feed and not much more money in return to grow them out a bit more. Answer (From Tim Koegel., Windy Ridge Poultry): Sure there is, economically speaking. With a larger bird you're achieving an economy of scale. For instance your fixed costs PER BIRD


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such as chick cost, processing, vaccines, etc. would be double for a 3 lb bird versus a 6 lb bird. If your fixed cost per bird total $4.00 then that equals 1.33/lb on a 3 lb bird but only .66/lb on a 5 lb bird. The larger a bird you raise the lower per bird and per lb of meat those costs would be. This of course must be bal-anced with the diminishing return caused by poorer feed con-version as the birds get bigger. Of course there are other factors to be considered as well including market demand on size, schedules, etc.

It's easy to see if you use my broiler calculator at: h t t p : / / w w w . w i n d y r i d g e p o u l t r y . c o m / c a l c 9 . h t mClick on the tab on the bottom left that says "egg profit calc" and the option for broiler calc will pop up..

What, Exactly, is the Problem with Soy? From Jeff Mattocks, The Fertrell Company Soy has a built in self defense mechanism, Urease. -Urease is an enzyme that blocks the digestion of one of its proteins amino acids, Trypsin. -Urease will limit how much soy can be consumed without caus-ing negative side effects like runny manure and poor digestion overall. Soy is a Legume. -Legumes in nature tend to be scavenger type plant that will pick up many and any of the nutrients and residues in the soil where it grows. -So in a corn and soy rotation of agriculture where many of the sprays are utilized like Round Up there will be a build up of chemical residue in the soil and remaining plant residues. -Many of the sprays that are used are designed to mimic estro-gen or phytoestrogens compounds. These forms are more readily absorbed by the plant tissue which enables a better kill of weeds, bugs, fungus, or whatever is trying to be killed. -The soybean picks up many of these compounds into the plant tissue and may pass it on to the consumer.

-Legumes(all legumes not just soy) at particular stages of growth tend to have elevated levels of naturally occurring Estrogen, which for some people may pose a health risk or increase the potential of health related risk. Soy has been singled out because it or parts of it are used to make so many other products. I.e. cosmetics, health and beauty aids, baby formula, ice cream, etc. Soy is in the majority of proc-essed foods available in the grocery stores today. In my opinion soy is not the enemy. The problem lies in how it is raised, how it is processed and how it is used incorrectly. ~ Just my opinion!

Sources of Information About Alternative Feeds: From Robert PlamondonAs it turns out, every possible feedstuff has been tried on poultry over the course of the century, so you will save yourself some time (probably not a hundred years, though) when you consulting books on poultry nutrition. Leeson and Summers' "Commercial Poultry Nutrition" is good, but of course it's out of print, like most good books.

"Feeding Poultry" by Heuser is older, but is far more focused on the widest possible range of feeds and is also fully aware of the needs of small flockowners and free range. It's still in print be-cause I republished it myself. A lot of people start with this book, and, since it's over 600 pages long, stop with it, too! http://w w w . n o r t o n c r e e k p r e s s . c o m / f e e d i n g _ p o u l t r y . h t m l

Ewing's massive "Poultry Nutrition" is the best of all. Hard to find, thou gh. Get th e F i f th Edi t ion i f you can. Lots of harmless-sounding feed ingredients are more or less poisonous to chickens in large amounts, including flaxseed ("Now with less cyanide!"), peas, and uncooked soy. This makes them textbook examples of Plamondon's First Law: "The alterna-tives are even worse."


APPPA Membership March 2010

Alabama 11 Nevada 1

Alaska 0 New Hampshire 3

Arizona 6 New Jersey 2

Arkansas 5 New Mexico 1

California 32 New York 37

Colorado 11 North Carolina 10

Connecticut 4 North Dakota 2DC 1 Ohio 31

Delaware 0 Oklahoma 3

Florida 9 Oregon 12

Georgia 6 Pennsylvania 66

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TOTAL 581

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2010 APPPA Member Network The following members have agreed to have their names published as participants in the APPPA Net-

work. Please contact each other with region specific question, but be respectful of privacy.

Alabama Danny Eiland, S & G Poultry, Clanton AL 35046 205-280-3771 [email protected] Jesse Goodwin, Destiny Acres Ranch Sylacauga AL 35150, 256-626-0292 [email protected] Jason Haynes, Old Southern Apple Nursery, Oxford AL 36203 256-835-0440 [email protected] Melissa Larsen Mountain Fork Farm New Market AL 35761 256-379-4762 [email protected] Charles & Laura Ritch , Goose Pond Farms, LLC Hart selle AL 35640 256-751-0987 [email protected] Jay Shepherd Shepherd Family Farms, Brierfield AL 35035, 205-665-1144 [email protected] Arkansas Jack & Sunny Daniels, Miracle Farms Rosston AR 71858 870-899-2550 [email protected] Steven Schroeder, Hunting Valley Farm, Roland AR 72135 501-868-3320 [email protected] Arizona Gary Hart Bathtub Spring Farm, Nutrioso AZ 85932-0224 928-339-1938 [email protected] California Mark & MariaElena Biaggi, La Luna Farm Manchester CA 95459 707-882-2789 [email protected] Noel Carlson, Holst Station Meadow Valley CA 95956 530-283-2414 [email protected] Christina Engelbart Sebastopol CA 95472 707-829-9625 [email protected] Alana Fowler Pann Valley, CA 95946 [email protected] Albert Katz/Jim Parr Rock Hill Ranch Chickens Napa CA 94559 707-254-1866 [email protected] John Metzer Metzer Farms Gonzales CA 93926 800-424-7755 [email protected] Christine Morrissey Stockton, CA 95206 209-639-6781 [email protected] Brenda Ostrom Mt Meadow Farm, Mariposa, CA 95338 209-966-8432 Barbara Shaw Truckee, CA 96161 530-582-5293 [email protected] Chris Wagner Modesto Milling, Empire CA 95319 209-523-9167 [email protected] Nigel Walker Eatwell Farm Dixon CA 95620 530-852- 0784;530-759-1120 [email protected] Colorado Tony and Barclay Daranyi Indian Ridge Farm & Bakery Norwood, CO 81423 970-327-0336 [email protected] Jerry Gioia, Parshall CO 80468 970-725-3459 [email protected] Cathy Morin Valley Pheasants Alamosa CO 81101 719-589-0409 [email protected] Rollin & Ella Roth, The Braying Bunch , Bayfield CO 81122 970-884-2557 Connecticut Warren Burrows, The Groton Farm, Groton CT 6340 860-235-1011 [email protected] Florida Erik Schramm, Plant City, FL 33565 [email protected]

Gerald Williams Cognito Farms, Starke, FL, 32091 904-964-2616 [email protected], Georgia Jim Bowden, Bowden's Plants, Woodbury, GA 30293 706-846-3970 [email protected] Iowa Ann Cromwell KT Birds Williamsburg, IA, 52361- 319-668-8248 [email protected] Dana Foster, West Branch IA, 52358 [email protected] Gary & Julie Maske Deep River, IA 52222 319-655- 7673 [email protected] Wes Moser, Lester IA 51242 712-478-4622 [email protected] Idaho Janie Burns Meadowlark Farm Nampa ID 83686 208-466-4806 [email protected] Illinois Tom and Jessica Arnold Arnold's Farm Elizabeth IL 61028 815-858-2407 [email protected] Dennis & JoAnn Dickman, Dickman's Herscher IL 60941 815-426-2154 [email protected] Keith Ganson, Little Lamarsh Creek Farm LLC Glasford, IL 61533 309-389-2682 [email protected] Brett Gutwein, Pleasant Ridge Farms, Forrest IL 61741- 9427 815-657-8173 [email protected] Jim Helfter Helfter Feeds, Inc. Osco IL 61274-0027 800-373-5971 [email protected] Brian Lau L&A Family Farms, Paris IL 61944 217-275-3506 [email protected] Jim Moore , Moore Family Farms Watseka IL 60970 815-432-6238 Eric Sexton, Nature's Choice Farm Grant Park IL 60940 815-472-2934 [email protected] Paul St. John, Grandma's Farm Fresh Eggs Montgomery IL 60538 [email protected] Indiana Abby Abbott-Rider, Thistle Byre Farm, Inc. Burnettsville IN 47926 574-652-3909 [email protected] Gordon, Dotson Dotson Farm and Feed Lafayette IN 47904 765-742-5111 Greg & Lei Gunthorp, Gunthorp Farms, LaGrange IN 46761 260-367-2708 [email protected] Merle Hershberger Song of the Wolf Farm Napanee IN 46550 574-773-0287 Jacob and Martha Miller J & M Poultry Farm Cambridge City IN 47327 765-489-6290 KansasJohn & Roseanna Bauman Bauman's Cedar Valley Farm Garnett KS 66032 735-448-2239 [email protected] George & Kelly Brantley Brantley Family Farm DeSoto KS 66018 913-909-4029 [email protected] Fred & Margaret Clark, Clark Family Farm Baldwin City KS 66006 785-842-0385 [email protected]


Adrianne Dale Protection KS 67127 620-622-4473 [email protected] Deanna Mitchell Cherryville KS 67335 [email protected] Keith & Judy O'Neal, Pleasant Prairie Meats Satanta KS 67870 620-276-6197 [email protected] Kellie Thelander Salina KS 67401 [email protected] Kentucky Larry Brandenburg Harmony Fields Farm Shelbyville KY 40065 502-738-0510 [email protected] Sandra Corlett Earth's Promise Farm Shelbyville KY 40065 502-647-8929 [email protected] Tricia Houston Warsaw KY 41095 [email protected] Cindy Pitsinger Mulefeathers Farm Sulpher KY 40070 502-314-4904 [email protected] Heather Redden Foster KY 41043 [email protected] Valerie Worsham Morehead KY 40351 606-783-9883 [email protected] Louisiana Carl and Shirley Howell, Howell Family Farms Pioneer LA 71266 318-926-4604 [email protected] Ronald Kooper Covington LA 70435-8577 985-249-7964 [email protected] Dr. James McNitt Southern University Baton Rouge LA 70813 225-771-2262 [email protected] Doug & Shellye White Hummingbird Ridge Farms Shreveport LA 71137 318-347-1445 [email protected] Massachusetts Paul Boutiette King's Supply/Eggcartons.com Manchaug MA 01526-0302 888-852-5340 [email protected] Rebecca Gilbert Native Earth Teaching Farm Chilmark MA02535 508-645-3304 rebeccanetf@hotmailcom Terry & Steve Golson Little Pond Farm Carlisle MA 01741 978-371-9959 [email protected] John & Bettina Hastie Fiddle Head Farm Berkley MA 02779-1400 508-823-6604 [email protected] Maryland Julie & Bob Bolton Groff's Content Farm Rocky Ridge MD 21778 301-447-6148 [email protected] Katherine Ecker Legacy Manor Fairplay MD 21733 301-432-0267 [email protected] Kathleen & Jack Hewitt Windlass Run Farm White Marsh MD 21162 410-335-5276 [email protected] Jay Martin Provident Organic Farm Bivalve MD 21814 410-873-2942 [email protected] Lafferty and Smith Springfield Farm Sparks MD 21152 410-472-0738 [email protected]; Washington White Gaithersburg MD 20876 240-674-5863 [email protected] Michigan Robert & Kimberly Brittain The Other Side Mikado MI 48745 989-736-9532 [email protected] Barry Broekhuizen HMA Poultry Gobles MI 49055 269-760-5072 [email protected]


Nebraska Dennis Demmel Demmel Farm Ogallala NE 69153-9620 308-352-4078 [email protected] Elizabeth Sarno NE Sustainable Agriculture Society Linwood NE 68036 [email protected] Randy & Trina Wattermann Wattermann Family Farm West Point NE 68788 402-372-5005 [email protected] New MexicoTom Delehanty Pollo Real Socorro NM 87801-5092 505-838-0345 [email protected] New York Michael Crossman West Winfield NY 13491 315-822-6654 [email protected] Pierre Dionne Sojourner Farms LLC Olean NY 14760 716-372-4255 [email protected] Fred Forsburg Honey Hill Farm Livonia NY 14487 [email protected] Mary Jean Frazer Duck Soup Farm Fort Edward NY 12828 [email protected] Craig Haney Stone Barns Center for Food and Agricul- ture Sleepy Hollow NY 10591 914-366-6200 x116 [email protected] Adele & Jim Hayes Sap Bush Hollow Farm Warnerville NY 12187 518-234-2105 [email protected] Mark & Gwen Hyde Windy Willow Farm Amsterdam NY 12010 518-627-0476 Joan & Phillip Jachim JPFarms Arcade NY 14009 716-432-6707 Tim Koegel Windy Ridge Natural Farm Alfred NY 14802 607-587-9684 [email protected]

Kevin Doll Back Forty Acres Chelsea MI 48118 734-649-1078 [email protected] James Graham Graham Farms Rosebush MI 48878-9715 989-433-2907 [email protected] William Hendrian Happy Hill Farm Hespera MI 49421 231-861-6814 [email protected] Terry Hill Pleasant Hill Farm Ceresco MI 49033 269-979-8101 [email protected] Bonnie & William Howard Howard Family Bruce Crossing MI 49953 906-827-3429 [email protected] Minnesota Kristy Kraling & Gary Kneeskern, Windy Ridge Heritage Farm , Presten MN 55965 507-765-5222 [email protected] Bob Gillis, Gillis Agricultural Systems Willmar MN 56201 320-235-0444 [email protected] Jeremy & Kelly Lanctot Glacial Acres Sunburg MN 56289 320-278-2002 [email protected] Kerry & Kristen Skelton JPR Acres, LLC Eden Prairie MN 55347 952-974-5148 [email protected] Greg & Becky Wierschke Kelliher MN 56650 218-647-8679 [email protected] Thomas & Thomas Yates/Buchner Cedar River Farm & Gardens Austin MN 55912 507-437-2786 Missouri Travis Anders Anders Poultry Farm Harrisonville MO 64701 [email protected] Mike Comish Grazeland Farms LLC Jamesport MO 64648 541-301-1145 [email protected] James Cutler Pilgrims Acres Foristell MO 63348 [email protected] Albert Hempel Semper Fidelis Ranch Eldridge MO 65463 573-363-5213 Karin & Norman Ladd Ladd's Family Farm Farmington MO 63640 573-747-1889 [email protected] Chester Misener Rosebud MO 63091 573-764-4235 Jim & Judy Protiva Peace Valley Pastured Poultry West Plains MO 65775-4883 417-277-5869 Nick Rivard Nick's Greenleaf Gardens Kansas City MO 64149 816-322-1614 [email protected] Alice Dobbs & David Schafer Featherman Equipment LLC / Schafer Farms Jamesport MO 64648 660-684-6035 [email protected] Julie & Tim Walker Greystone Farm Fayette MO 65248 660-248-3949 [email protected] Daniel L. West Living Springs Ranch Belleview MO 63623-6386 573-269-1341 [email protected] Mississippi Leann Hines Levee Run Farm Greenwood MS 38930 662-392-4189 [email protected] David & Edie Varnado Camp Topisaw Summit MS 39666 601-684-8743 [email protected] North Carolina Bruce Kyte Box K Farm Stem NC 27581 919-960-0960 [email protected] Scott McKee Sassyfrass Farms Bolivia NC 28422 910-253-7762 [email protected] Mike Perry Perry-Winkle Farm Chapel Hill NC 27516 933-6189 [email protected] Aaron Ritchie Concord NC 28025 704-784-2135 [email protected] Don Schrider American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Pittsboro NC 37312 919-542-5704 [email protected]


Mark & Barbara Laino Midsummer Farm Warwick NY 10990 845-986-9699 [email protected] Stu McCarty Growers Discount Labels Tunnel NY 13848 800-693-1572 [email protected] Jim & Peggy McLaughlin Cornerstone Farm Norwich NY13815 607-334-2833 [email protected] Robert Ott Bennington Beefalo Attica NY 14011-9565 585-591-2685 [email protected] Tricia and Matt Park Creekside Meadows Tully NY 13159 315-677-3747 [email protected] Mike Picinelli Thunderhill Farm Stanfordville NY 12581 845-868-1306 [email protected] Tom & Pat Quinn Quinns Irish Hill Farm Freeville NY 13068 607-844-8645 [email protected] Beth Spaugh Rehoboth Homestead Peru NY 12972 [email protected] Carol Swetts Rransomville NY 14131 [email protected] H. Brian Underwood October Rose Farm Skaneateles NY 13152 315-673-1206 [email protected] Hermann Weber HLW Acres Attica NY 14011 585-591-0795 [email protected] Ohio Timothy Burkholder Green Acres Farm Shilo OH 44878 419-896-3403 [email protected] Matthew & Beth Davis Wildflower Farm London OH 43140 [email protected] Dale Filbrun Morning Sun Farm W. Alexandria OH 45381-9355 937-787-4885 Matthew Gingerich Sleepy Hollow Farm Belle Center OH 43310 937-464-7505

Lindsay Graham Grand Rapids OH 43522 419-392-6868 [email protected] Kate & Eric Helt Dharma Farm Gambier OH 43022 740-427-3995 [email protected] Joellen Hoffman Norton OH 44203 [email protected] Dan & Nancy Kremer Yorkshire OH 45388 419-336-5433 [email protected] Michael Martig Richwood OH 43344 937-358-2759 [email protected] Benjamin Poling Pioneer Mountain Farms Toledo OH 97391 541-875-4400 [email protected] Eric Rubel Crossroads Farm Belmont OH 43718 740-686-2153 [email protected] Michael Runyon Broken Cedar Farm Fayette OH 43521 419-337-9969 Terence Sprague Atwater OH 44201 330-947-0451 [email protected] Ann K Wood Tamarack Ranch South Vienna OH 45369 937-834-1122 [email protected] Oregon Karen Black Norton Creek Products, Inc. Blodgett OR 97326 541-453-5841 [email protected] Scott & Marilyn Jondle Abundant Life Farm Dallas OR 97338 503-623-6378 [email protected] Brian Kromer Becan Farms Canby OR 97013 503-263-3276 [email protected] Michael Lobby Saint Helens OR 97051 [email protected] Georgia Owen Zorn farm St Paul OR 97137 503-678-2816 [email protected] Bernard Smith Full of Life Farm St Paul OR 97137 925-876-6720 [email protected] Andy Walton Halsey OR 97348 541-369-2393 [email protected] Dan & Susie Wilson SuDan Farm Canby OR 97013 503-651-5262 [email protected] Pennsylvania Lawrence & Vicki Baylor Frosty Valley Pastured Poultry Danville PA 17821-9139 570-275-5327 [email protected] Mark A Becker Middleburg PA 17842 570-837-1195 Sandra L. Brown So'Journey Farm Holbrook PA 15341 724-499-5680 [email protected] Susan Bullock Back Achers Farm Rome PA 18837 570-247-2940 [email protected] William Callahan Cow-a-Hen Farm Mifflinburg PA 17844 570-966-2678 [email protected] John Lee Fisher Paradise Pastures Paradise PA 17562 717-687-6346 Debra Franks Wapwallopen PA 18660 570-868-6100 [email protected] Peggy Gilbert Gilbert Hill Farm DuBois PA 15801 814-375-0864 [email protected] Al Granger Glasbern Fogelsville PA 18051 610-285-4723 [email protected] Laura Sumayah Houston Sumayah's Peaceful Poultry Warfordsburg PA 17267 631-379-7314 [email protected] Dale Howell D and L Howell Farms Westfield PA 16950 814-334-5080 [email protected] Nate & Kristen Johanson Wolf Lake Farm New Alexandria PA 15670 724-668-8772 [email protected]

Palmetto Pigeon Plant 335 Broad St., Sumter, SC 29150

Office: 803-775-1204 Fax: 803-778-2896

www.palmettopigeonplant.com

Custom Processing Available for Chicken, Turkey, Pheasant, and Quail

Serving South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia

*Chicks Available*Weekly and Year Round

Contact: Christie Hadwin At above numbers or

[email protected]


Success With Baby Chicks(2003) by Robert Plamondon 155 pages, $15.95

The Dollar Hen (1909) by Milo Hastings 250 pages, $18.95

Genetics of the Fowl (1949)by F. B. Hutt. 590 pages, $44.95

Feeding Poultry (1955)by G.F. Heuser 632 pages, $39.95

Norton Creek Press 36475 Norton Creek Road, Blodgett OR

97326 http://www.nortoncreekpress.com

Charles Kendall Kencove Farm Fence Blairsville PA 15717 714-459-8991 [email protected] John S. Lapp Rolling Pastures Lykens PA 17048 717-365-3829 Curvin H LeinbachnPleasant Acres Orchard Bethel PA 19507 717-933-8391 Axel Linde Lindenhof Kirkwood PA 17536 717-529-6963 [email protected] HughLofting Inverbrook Farm West Grove PA 19390 610-444-5382 [email protected] Joel M Martin JM Hatchery New Holland PA 17557 717-330-3247 [email protected] Jeff Mattocks The Fertrell Company Bainbridge PA 17502-0265 800-347-1566 [email protected] Kim Miller New Alexandria PA 15670 [email protected] Leon Moyer Moyer's Chicks Quakertown PA 18951 215-536-3155 [email protected] Wilmer & Arlene Newswanger Wil-Ar Farm Newville PA 17241-9464 717-776-6552 Julie & Fernando Pacheco Grace Meadows Farm Lakewood PA 18439 570-727-3134 [email protected] Robert Potcher Beville Farm Troy PA 16947 570-364-5509 [email protected] Eli and Kathleen Reiff Poultry Man LLC Mifflinburg PA 17844 570-966-0769 [email protected] Steve & Leslie Schoeniger Rainbow Farm Inc. New Tripoli PA 18066 610-298-2333 [email protected]

Lauren Smith Pennsylvania Assoc for Sust Ag Millheim PA 16854 814-349-9856 [email protected] Isaac Stauffer Port Trevorton PA 17864 Richard Stauffer R Farm Mt. Pleasant Mills PA 17853 570-541-1641 Amos M Stoltzfus Natural Acres Millersburg PA 17601 717-692-1000 [email protected] Chester Stoltzfus Lykens PA 17048 717-365-3064 Glenn Wise Shady Acres Elizabethtown PA 17022-8472 717-361-1640 Rhode Island Robert Busenbark Tiverton RI 2878 401-625-5548 [email protected] Skip Paul Wishing Stone Little Compton RI 2837 401-635-4274 [email protected] South Carolina Christie Hadwin Palmetto Pigeon Plant Sumter SC 29150 803-775-1204 [email protected] Jim Lyle Gaffney SC 29340 864-490-4022 [email protected] South Dakota Tom & Ruth Neuberger Goosemobile Canistota SD 57012-6104 605-296-3314 [email protected] Tennessee Pat & Ellen Bourke Hourglass Acres Clarksville TN 37040 931-551-8308 [email protected] Jenny Drake Peaceful Pastures Hickman TN 38567 615-683-4291 [email protected]

Jonathan Coulimore Fertrell Distributor for WA, OR, ID, MT, CA, AK, HI, BC.

Products in stock are: Original & Organic Poultry Nutri-Balancer,

Laczyme, DE, Redmond Conditioner, Azomite, Non-GMO Corn and

Roasted Soybeans, Fish meal and Kelp meal.

Jonathan Coulimore, Vancouver, WA

503-209-1555 cell, e-mail [email protected]

Other products available on request.

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

PO Box 87 Boyd, WI 54726

David & Teresa Folsom Folsom Farms Alexandria TN 37012 615-408-2018 [email protected] Peg Hamlett Atwood TN 38220 731-662-4565 [email protected] Allison Neal Columbia TN 38401 931-682-3314 [email protected] Texas Allen & Kim Boone Prairie Oasis Farm Millsap TX 76066-2506 817-341-1412 [email protected] Madelon Bradshaw Mad Canyons Ranch Weatherford TX 76087 817-448-9606 [email protected] David Crank Oaks of Mamre Farm Hempstead TX 77445 979-826-9812 [email protected] Don & Cynthia Hobart Cross Timbers Ranch Franklin TX 77856-1072 979-777-1877 [email protected] Robert Hutchins Rehoboth Ranch Greenville TX 75401-7973 903-450-8145 [email protected] Rachel Long Bellecreek Farm Rosharon TX 77583 281-431-5060 [email protected] H.C. Moore White-Moore Ranch, Inc Lipan TX 76462-0188 254-646-3091 [email protected] William D. Morris Elmendorf TX 78112 [email protected] Lisa Simmons Blossom TX 75416 [email protected] Steve & Deb Stephenson Stephenson Farms La Marque TX 77568 409-925-1815 [email protected] Jason Tiemann Elgin TX 78621 [email protected] VirginiaStephen Ault Aults Family Farm & Apiary Pamplin VA 23958 [email protected] Larry & Debby Bright Bright Farm Floyd VA 24091 540-745-5790 W.E. Chapin Fern Stream Farm Callands VA 24530 434-724-4248 [email protected] Marty Gore Laurel Knoll Faram Jetersville VA 23083- 2213 804-561-3804 [email protected] Barry Herndon Herdon Family Farm Dry Fork VA 24549 434-724-1479 [email protected] Harvey Ussery The Modern Homestead Hume VA 22639 540-364-1877 [email protected] Anna Wills Montvale VA 24122 540-947-0337 [email protected] VermontBay Hammond Shoreham VT 05770 802-897-2121 [email protected] Washington Karlen Gunderson Twisp WA 98856 [email protected] Jim and Trish Harder Harder Springs Ranch Kahlotus WA 99335 509-282-3389 [email protected] Corinne Logan Willows Edge Farm Bothell WA 98012 425-402-6781 [email protected] Duncan MacDonald Pullman WA 99163 425-214-3656 [email protected] Harley Soltes Kingston WA 98346 360-297-2203 [email protected] Dan & Cindy Turner Wooden Bridge Farm Skamokawa WA 98647 360-795-3383 [email protected]

Jennie Watkins Ananda Hills Farm Port Ludlow WA 98365 360-732-0111 [email protected] Wisconsin Francis & Karee Abbott Gobbler Hill Poultry Farm Plymouth WI 53073-3111 920-893-0421 [email protected] Randy & Lynn Anderson Anderson Farm Arkansaw WI 54721-8603 715-285-5226 [email protected] Matthew Buvala Pepin WI 54759 715-495-7927 [email protected] David Carpenter Dousman WI 53118 262-485-6011 [email protected] Kay Craig The Grassway Farm New Holstein WI 53061 920-894-4201 [email protected] Michael Criste Baker Road Farms Holmen WI 54636 608-857-9915 [email protected] Gary Daun Hanover WI 53542 608-879-3504 [email protected] Will and Sue Halser Prairie Hill Farms Palmyra WI 53156 262-495-2213 [email protected] Jane Hansen Northacres Farm Prentice WI 54556 715-767-5958 [email protected] Cynthia & Keene Hollenbeck Keene Organics Marshall WI 53559 608-655-1596 [email protected] Mickey and Cindy Kronberg Kronberg Farm Larsen WI 54947 920-836-2795 [email protected] Julie & Vince Maro Coon Creek Family Farm Mondovi WI 54755 715-834-4547 [email protected] Tracey Mofle Haugen WI 54841 715-790-9177 Diana & James Murphy Dreamfarm Cross Plains WI 53528 608-767-3442 [email protected] Randy and Laura Orth Orthridge Farm Lancaster WI 53813 608-723-4714 [email protected] John Pavelski Sonday Produce Amherst Junction WI 54407-9557 715-824-6428 [email protected] Kevan & Annette Rod Goshen Farm Brule WI 54820 715-372-5186 [email protected] Richard Walders Ewes Rule the Farm Cornell WI 54732 715-288-6801 [email protected] Dean & Kim Zimmerman Coulee View Family Farm Wauzeka WI 53826 608-874-4144 [email protected] Petra Zinniker Zinniker Farm, Inc. Elkhorn WI 53121 262-642-5775 West VirginiaLawrence Beckerle Craigsville WV 26205 304-742-3639 [email protected] Craig & Lorna Canterbury Canterbury Farms Gay WV 25244 304-372-3965 [email protected] Paige Dopson Loctus Knoll Farms Terra Alta WV 26764 304-789-6227 [email protected] Louis & Megan Roy White Oak Ridge Farm Philippi WV 26416 304-997-0467 [email protected] Wyoming Lyle Williams Evanston WY 82930 [email protected]


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APPPA GRIT 56 - Amazon S3 · 4 Feed From Worms 13 Marketing Minute ... and a lot more folks sat ... we can comfortably get away from that, I guess